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| by:
Lawrence Winterburn
photos: Kathryn Hollinrake
illustration: Len Churchill |
THE AGELESS PICKET FENCE |
| Mark
your territory with a well-built fence that will add years of
value to your home |
Carpentry is a precarious business. So I steer away from the
pitfall that traps many professional carpenters. My first six
years in the trade taught me that large, prestigious projects
are great for reputation, but can leave you without much more.
And although I love working outside, I was disappointed with
the quality of typical residential projects.
Now I concentrate on smaller-scale,
higher-quality work. By delivering topnotch designs and workmanship,
and specializing in outdoor work, I smooth out my marketing
efforts, generate a constant flow of work, and deliver lasting
value to my clients. This fence is one of those projects, incorporating
the experience of building several similar fences.
With a fence, or any outdoor
project, you must know thine enemies—water, frost and sun. Standing
water will rot your fence, so you need features that encourage
quick runoff. Frost will heave your posts unless they’re well-seated,
and the sun will beat down and beat up your finish if it’s not
prepared.
You’ll need a survey plan if
your fence will be near your property line. I use mason’s line
tied to 6" spikes to mark boundaries. If you’re sharing costs
with your neighbour, build right on the line. If you’re footing
the bill, build your fence far enough on your side to avoid
disputes. Fence posts should be evenly spaced, and no more than
8' apart. White spray paint marks fence post locations on the
ground better than anything else.
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| CLICK
ABOVE TO SEE A DETAILED PLAN |
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There’s more to digging post holes than grabbing the nearest
shovel. You may find it best to have the 10"-diameter holes
dug by a pro with a truck-mounted auger. Most rental shops offer
one-man augers which work well, too. I don’t recommend two-man
augers—they’re powerful enough to be dangerous. The holes should
be 3 1/2' to 4' deep.
Digging post holes isn’t a precision operation. Small stones
or pockets of tough soil can easily throw an auger out of line.
But that’s okay. The post holes are larger than needed so there’ll
be room to position the posts along a taut string later. Install
both end posts now, following my concrete and dry-pack approach.
With this method, the end posts
will be solid enough to support a string stretched between them
immediately after installation. Use 3/4"-thick spacer blocks
to hold the string away from the posts. Use another piece of
3/4"-thick scrap to position the other posts the same distance
from the string. Using spacers prevents one misplaced post from
throwing the whole string, and your fence’s alignment, out of
whack. Allow two days for the concrete to set solid before the
next step—installing the rails.
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| Crowning Touch |
The horizontal fence rails sit on galvanized metal brackets.
When selecting rails, assess which edge is crowned, then orient
the crown upwards. Wood is imperfect; using it well requires
the ability to see, hide and accommodate imperfection. If any
rails are crowned more than 5/8" over an 8' length, save them
for a shorter application. For durability, I apply a layer of
paint on the inside of the rails, before installing pickets.
This is easier than painting around all those pickets.
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| Picket Lines |
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| Formal
follows function: Diagonal cross braces add a classic
touch to the gate and prevent it from sagging out
of square |
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A story
pole is a site-cut stick that you mark with dimensions you need
often for a particular job, such as installing fence pickets.
It gives you more speed and accuracy than a tape measure. A
straight line marked across the story pole shows where one edge
of the workpiece goes; the X marks which side of the line the
picket sits on. Simply butt the end of the story pole against
a post, then transfer lines and Xs to the rails.
I keep my pickets simple, yet stylish. These are rounded with
a belt sander, to echo the top of each post. While you’re at
it, round the posts. Rounding is one way to encourage rain to
run off end-grain surfaces, which are most vulnerable to water
damage. The plans show how the pickets decrease in height toward
the middle of each rail—a style thing. Use two galvanized finishing
nails at each end to attach pickets to rails.
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| Gate Keepers |
There are two reasons why gates rarely work smoothly for long.
Gate posts often begin to lean under the constant, one-sided
load. And the gates themselves usually sag under their own weight.
Good design solves these problems.
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| An
arbour bridging the gap between the gate posts as
it is dramatic—it helps keep the posts stable
and plumb |
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In this fence, neither gate post can be bolted to a wall, but
the arbour that spans the two posts prevents sagging by bracing
one post against the other.
Diagonal bracing prevents the
gate from sagging. Since wood braces work only under compression,
the critical brace extends from the top swinging corner to the
bottom post corner. When you measure the width of the gate opening,
leave 1" of clearance on the swing side, and a couple of inches
underneath the gate.
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| Trimming and Finishing |
Trim will transform a plain fence into a real property-enhancer.
Use a mitre saw to boost the speed and quality of trim installation.
Although nails alone will hold trim, glue adds durability. I
use outdoor-rated weatherproof carpenter’s glue or polyurethane
glue. Take extra care to avoid squeeze-out if you plan to stain—glue
never takes stain like wood does.
And a fence that’s built without
care and planning will never look as good as this one does,
or last as long.
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Lawrence
Winterburn designs and builds fine outdoor structures from his
base near Elmvale, Ont. Plans for many of his projects are available
from his website, www.gardenstructure.com.
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fence tips |
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